i'm a mom. i'm a reporter who covered too many of these mass shootings. this time feels different but we have been here before. the moment has passed before. in tucson, congress saw one of its own gunned down and did nothing. in aurora, colorado, 12 people were murdered in a movie theater. 58 injured. nothing. less than two weeks ago inside an oregon shopping mall teeming with christmas shoppers, two people were killed and a third seriously injured. maybe this time in connecticut is different. you're going to see the media slowly and quietly pulling away from newtown. we'll let them grieve alone. but america, what are we so afraid of? for me it's that we let this moment, this gut punch to the national conscience slip away. i want to know what you think. find us on facebook and twitter, our handle is cnnbottomline, my handle is @christineromans. cnn continues now. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, this is "cnn saturday morning."

here we go, it was ten days till new year's and all through d.c., not a deal was stirring despite every plea. more guns. that's the nra's solution for preventing another school massacre. all morning long, we put gun control in focus. a man with down syndrome beaten and pepper sprayed by police. the crime -- not turning around. the family joins us live. good morning, everyone, i'm randi kaye. it is 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. on the west. thank you very much for joining us this morning. we start with the national rifle association's plan to make school safer. armed guards. >> the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> so while many in washington are calling for more gun

controls, the nra wants to fight fire with fire in schools or maybe it's just the deterrent factor that they're hoping for. cnn national correspondent susan candiotti joining me from new york. is that the message that most people expected or wanted to hear from the nra? >> you know, everyone agrees that something needs to change, the question is, of course, is this the moment. armed guards in every school? we're getting different reactions to that. for example, in newtown, connecticut, where the community is still reeling after a shooter blasted his way into sandy hook elementary school and systematically gunned down 20 children and six adults, people are asking is this what we want to do now, put armed guards in every school? here's a sample of opinion in newtown. >> i'm very torn at this point. i'm not happy with the nra. i am not happy with the nra, and i am a gun owner myself.

there's just no reason for automatic weapons out there in the public. and clips that discharge so many rounds of ammunition. >> i have many guns. but i don't have a third round clip in a semiautomatic weapon. we have a tragedy here, and we have to address it. they're not addressing it. that's what i tell them. you're not addressing the situation here. >> reporter: but in los angeles at a gun range, we got a different take. >> the only way to fight fire is with fire. so if you've got somebody that's armed and you're not, you're part of the problem. you're not part of the solution. >> and so, a range of opinions, everyone has a different view on this, and the debate is on. >> and a lot of people have a different view about whether or not it would work, arming these guards. i mean, is there any proof that arming guards and putting them in schools would actually work? >> reporter: you know, it depends on who you talk with, of course. one thing we can do is look at history. for example, at the columbine

shooting in 1999, there was an armed guard at the school there. and yet, the two shooters were able to get those guns into the building. and 13 people were killed. so is that the answer? i don't know. how much would it cost? there would be training, of course, that would be involved. you know, there's so many more questions right now. but a lot of people are saying they're just not convinced that this is the route to take. >> susan candiotti for us. susan, thank you. the january 1 deadline to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff is closing in. the president and congress remain just as divided. here i am. and now they're geographically divided, too. cnn's emily schmidt is in the nation's capital this morning. so president obama's in hawaii. house speaker john boehner and other lawmakers have gone home for the holidays. what does all this mean for the chance of getting a deal done before the deadline?

>> reporter: no doubt that president obama went to a warmer climate with the weather and probably a warmer climate politically. if there's any negotiating that will be done now, it will have to be done long distance for the next few days. we know that speaker boehner and president obama spoke in washington yesterday before they left. but when you hear their final words to reporters, it shows there is a continued public divide. >> the president and senate democrats have vowed to reject and veto all of our proposals while failing to offer responsible solutions of their own. but the president has -- what the president has offered so far simply won't do anything to solve our spending problem and begin to address our nation's crippling debt. >> in the next few days, i've asked leaders of congress to work toward a package that prevents a tax hike on middle-class americans, protects unemployment insurance for two million americans, and lays the groundwork for further work on both growth and deficit reduction.

that's an achievable goal. that can get done in ten days. >> reporter: you hear we are talking about the words "achievable goals." the reality here is we have fewer days to work with, less talk about some sort of a grand compromise, and more talk about trying to do something to get things done for americans. randi? >> what do you make of the language and tone? i mean, is any sense of a deal sort of evaporating judging from what we're hearing from both sides, tough talk? >> at the very least, we aren't hearing a lot of warm words between the two toward each other. we know they've been working on this for weeks. you just don't hear that thawing when you hear them talking as they did just within the past 24 hours. shows a lot of work to be done in the next few days. how much is behind the scenes when they're divided geographically is the part we don't know. >> yeah. the president certainly also asking -- suggesting that everyone needs time to cool down. will this new proposal pass with republicans, do you think? >> reporter: it's hard to know. we saw how john boehner put up his plan b earlier this week. he talked about how he thought

it would work, and republicans balked at it. they did not want to go on the record to talk about the concept, any public perception that they could be backing the idea of increasing tax rates for any americans even if they were americans making at least $1 million a year. that was one fight in this. will it be what they do when it comes down to a final vote? that's a part we still have to wait and see. we've only got a few days left in which we need to wait. >> yeah. and you can bet that everyone is watching their paychecks closely. wondering when that bite is going to come out if we go off the cliff. thank you very much. emily schmidt, appreciate it. >> thanks. a white christmas is in the forecast for some of us. with it may come some pretty vicious weather. the midwest got its share this week with a blizzard in iowa. more than a foot of snow in specific. the system that caused this is expected to dump inches in western pennsylvania and upstate new york today. as for christmas, well, for that we have to turn to meteorologist alexandra steele with us this

morning. >> with that -- >> yeah. you turned up there, you pass it on to us. what do you know? >> right. hi. i'll let you in on my secret. hi, everyone. good morning. hope you're having a super saturday morning. all right. a white christmas. meteorologically, a white christmas means that there's at least an inch of snow on the ground christmas morning. don't have to fall in the afternoon. it just means an inch on the ground already. and here's a look at where we'll see it now. we have not seen kind of the widespread nature of this amount of snow christmas morning. last winter, remember last christmas, it was a paltry -- it was paltry in terms of snow. look, if you're skiing in the green and white mountains of vermont, all the way western new york, holiday valley, a banner -- how about two feet of snow there. you can see the white christmas extends all the way to west virginia and minneapolis, chicago, denver, and so a lot of the cold portion of the country will see a white christmas. what about after christmas? maybe you're traveling on vacation, traveling back to work. just watching an interesting

computer model. it's been a deluge, awful travel in san francisco the last couple of days. for tomorrow, watch california, here comes a next system. so another day in san francisco and seattle with rain. by monday, the west coast clears out. but here's the little interesting nugget that could happen. on monday, watch what happens here in the gulf. moisture comes up from the gulf, an area of low pressure develops. this is the deep south. birmingham to new orleans to atlanta, could be a wet christmas. rain, not a white one. then we could see this area of low pressure develop, and it's from tuesday to thursday in the mid-atlantic and northeast, we could be looking at another storm. we'll have to keep our eyes on that model. forecast, though, for today, pretty blustery. watching us from the northeast, new york city could see a few snow showers coming down. but the winds are pretty strong. so it's pretty chilly. so some snow in western great lakes. of course, we're seeing that, the lake-effect snow guns firing off. another wet day on the west coast, randi, from seattle to san francisco.

another tough travel day there. but this is the end of the line. things begin to clear out. the balance of the country is cold and driempt ay. and the eastern section is windy. >> i'd rather have a white christmas than a wet one. i guess we don't have much of a choice. thank you. >> sure. armed police in our schools. that is the nra's plan to combat gun violence. one lawmaker has another idea. arm the teachers. but not just with guns. we'll explain. first, good morning, washington! look at that lovely shot of the washington monument there. glad you're with us here on cnn "saturday morning." if you think running a restaurant is hard, try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores.

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we have been focusing on gun control in the wak of the sandy hook school shooting. democratic senator dianne feinstein is proposing a new assault weapons ban, while president obama is putting vice president biden in charge of the administration's efforts. but a lot of these changes start on a state level. bob marshall is a delegate in the virginia state house. he's proposed a new law for schools in his state which would mean arming teachers. now, i want to ask you this. good morning to you, sir. are you saying that teachers should be able to carry guns in school or be required to carry guns in school? >> no. you're overstating it. look at the situation. arm some teachers, arm some school personnel who voluntarily participate in this. one of the problems that you have is that when you have an area that's a gun-free zone,

criminals don't pay attention to this. shootings which have occurred to 1950 to the present with one exception where there's three or more people killed have occurred in areas that are gun-free zones. that's the problem. i want people to be able to have after they receive equivalent law enforcement training which would take about four to eight weeks, the same training that a policeman would have. so if a policeman comes on to campus later, he knows somebody there who knows the building, who knows how to respond. first thing, who knows when ton brandish a gun. no, i'm not arming everybody. this is not cowboy practice time. this is a reasoned response to increase the security on school grounds. that's all. >> and do you think that this -- obviously hindsight is always 20/20. do you believe that something like that -- that somebody, an aggressive person coming in with a gun might not go into a school if they believe that there are armed personnel or armed teachers inside, that it would be a deterrent? >> well, there are no reports of police stations and gun stores being attacked.

so these criminals are not completely stupid. that killer in -- in colorado, there were seven movie theaters that were playing the "batman" movie. he did not go to the theater closest to him. he didn't go to the biggest theater. he went to the only movie theater in aurora which had signs conspicuously posted "no concealed carry." he basically went where the law-abiding people said, okay, i'm not going to carry a gun. that is what the problem is. it's a magnet for that. in virginia, from 2006 to 2011, gun purchases increased 73%. in 2006, gun offenses were 79 per 100,000. in 2011, it had dropped to 57. in virginia at least, more guns did result in less crime. >> are you confident, though? can we really expect a teacher with however many weeks of training, with a pistol, to be able to take down a crazed gunman, crazed killer who's got body armor on and maybe carrying an assault rifle? >> right now you only have

kindergarten students facing these people unarmed. again, this is voluntary. if you have a difficulty handling a gun, i don't want you near a gun. you need to go through the training to know how to respond and to know when not to respond, how to safely use your gun, how to safely put it away, and how to defuse a situation before it comes to that. so i think this is a reasonable response. if you have people who have been in the school three or more years, you'll have confidence of the community in this fact. look, we've got 310:30 people in virginia who have conceal carry permits. only about 900 are rescinded every year. as a matter of fact, in 2005, governor mark warner, now a democrat who's one of our senators, signed a bill which allows any person who has a conceal carry permit in virginia to drop their child off, go through the traffic circle, park the car, keep the gun armed and loaded. there have been no incidents. we armed pilots after 2002. it's very inexpensive way to

protect an airplane. there's been only one incident of a gun discharge in 2008. >> what about the nra? i mean, they're taking it a step further. they're talking about proposing putting armed guards in every school. do you support that? >> the nra doesn't have to fight with the budget that i do. >> i'm asking if you support it, regardless of the budget. >> i would vote for it, but there are much less expensive ways to secure more safety for more children and more parents. look, i have grandkids in virginia's public schools. i want them protected like every parent or grandparent in virginia. we -- you are correct, we cannot continue what we've been doing in the past. >> so you do support the armed guards if you could afford it there? >> if we could afford it, yes. but i'm not sure that they should be visually identified as police because the bad guys are going to go after them first. in israel when they had problems with terrorists on buses, they put uniformed military personnel. they became the first target. >> right. >> you have to watch how you carry this out.

>> all right, delegate bob marshall. thank you for your time this morning. appreciate it. >> thank you, randi. thank you. and we want to remind our viewers that we did reach out to 43 senators of the incoming 113th congress who have an "a" or "a-plus" rating. not one agreed to join us to talk about the issue. here's what you're saying about the nra's idea to place armed guards in schools. ricky lee tweets "insane idea. wait until a deranged child gets hold of one of the guns." this countertweet, "armed guard for children safety costs less than mother's tears -- accept proposal today for kid's future." and another, "let's pay for the armed guards with taxes on all bullets sold." well, a few more days left in 2012. so if you missed any of the big stories this year, we'll catch you up on 12 months of controversy, tragedy, and history. excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to

power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide,

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good morning, everyone on catalina island. look at that lovely shot there, southern california. glad you're waking up with us this morning here on "cnn saturday morning." not even 7:30 a.m. out west. quiet there. looks like we have a nice day on tap. the past 12 months were full of big moments, historic moments, emotional moments, of course, funny ones, too. here's a look back at the biggest stories of 2012. [ cheers ] >> thank you very much. [ applause ] >> a massive crowd has gathered here. >> we want our freedom. we want to be free people. >> the italian cruise ship capsized. >> nearly 23% unemployment. >> joseph koni -- >> viral on media sites. >> outrage stirred social media. >> my name is sandra --

>> legitimate rate. >> this is a massive play by facebook. >> it largest ipo in tech history. >> this is breast-feeding in the picture. >> one article has the entire country talking. >> the president says he now believes that same-sex marriage should be legal. >> we now know the name of the suspect blamed for the movie theater shooting spree. >> shooting at the sikh temple in wisconsin. >> police now tell cnn people have been shot in front of the empire state building. >> bath salts. >> bath salts? >> bath salts. >> jerry sandusky sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison. >> an iconic statue honoring the late football coach joe paterno is gone. >> the british people are going ga-ga for the diamond jubilee. >> flying squirrel. >> fear five. >> ryan lock tee. >> someone sold photographs of prince harry naked -- >> one of the hottest novels around. >> what went wrong, why now?

>> isaac is forcing some changes at the republican convention. [ cheers ] manufacture. >> what do you mean shut up? [ laughter ] >> four more years! >> thank you! >> christopher stevens and three other embassy staff, they are dead. >> we will bring those to justice who committed these murders. >> all the effects of hurricane sandy already. >> sandy's carved a path of destruction across the eastern seaboard. >> we can't fully secure the crane until the wind dies down. >> they're doing another story on this? >> "call me maybe." >> tan mom. >> honey boo boo. >> live picture from "endeavour." the shuttle roping down the streets of l.a. >> let's look at the man of the center of the scandal, general david petraeus. >> responded to fresh rocket attacks -- >> despyroin syria has gone on for 20 hours -- >> are these red line warnings

talk? >> cnn projects that barack obama will be re-elected president of the united states. >> terror at an elementary school in connecticut. >> 20 children dead. six adults are also dead. >> our hearts are broken today. for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children. may god bless the memory of the victims. and in the words of scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.

>> what a year it's been. another big story, of course, this year is the fiscal cliff battle. we're not done with that yet. will we get a deal ever? and will the process lead to the end of john boehner's leadership in the house? 9ñé8 people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain.

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welcome back. i'm randi kaye. nick valencia is here in studio looking at five stories we're watching. hi, nick. >> good morning. there are ten days left now for congress and the white house to make a deal and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. neither the president nor lawmakers are in washington. first family is in hawaii, and congress members have gone home for the christmas holiday. before he left, president obama urged congress to approve a scaled down proposal he says would prevent middle-class tax hikes and extend unemployment benefits. we may not see any movement until thursday when both sides may be back in washington. a former u.s. marine who was imprisoned in mexico for four months has been reunited with

his family. john hammer was released yesterday partly thanks to work from u.s. senator big nelson. hammer was imprisoned on a questionable charge after police found him with an antique shotgun. he said u.s. officials is told him it was okay to cross the border with the gun seen here. mexican officials accused him of violating their law. california's controversial gay therapy ban has been halted. there's an injunction blocking the ban. some say conversion or so-called reparative therapy can turn a gay person straight. therapy techniques include cuddling. the ban would have gone into effect on january 1 and prevented people under the age of 18 from undergoing the treatment. some say the treatment benefited them, others say it ruined their lives. the court has put the ban on hold pending full hearings on the issue. and the massachusetts company linked to a deadly nationwide outbreak of fungal

meningitis has filed for bankruptcy protection. health agencies say the new england compounding center did not follow sterilization procedures for a steroid it distributed. 620 meningitis cases were reported. and 39 people died after they were injected with that steroid. the company says it will establish a fund to help compensate individuals and families affected. [ wind blowing] blistering weather conditions that brought this blizzard to iowa have moved through ohio and are hitting western pennsylvania and upstate new york. inches of snow are expected in those areas today. it looks like a white christmas may happen for a good portion of the country. forecasts say harsh weather is coming next week. a system likely to drop more snow will start in arkansas and head to new england. those are the headlines this morning. back to you. >> so are you going to have a white christmas, nick, where you're going to be? >> i don't think so.

los angeles doesn't get much snow. and if it snowed there, i haven't seen it. >> all right. >> thanks. >> oh, well. you might see some passing on your way. >> maybe palm trees, something like that. yeah. >> all right. thank you very much. >> thanks. to politics now. the coming fiscal cliff. there was a flurry of action this week. in the end, still no deal. the senate is on vacation until thursday. and republican house leaders have just said that they'll be back if needed. joining me now as they do every week, cnn contributor maria cardona and amy holmes, anchor of "real news" on "the blaze." good morning to you. >> good morning. >> maria, there are still a few days left, maria. can anything get done, what do you think? >> given that it's the holiday season and i think hope should spring eternal, especially this time of year -- >> oh, my. >> and i am an optimist. i hope that a deal can get done, randi. the other thing that i think should go into the equation as to whether a deal can get done even though it hasn't up to now is republicans need to remember

who won this election. and republicans need to remember what the american people wanted and whose plan they supported. and that was president obama's plan to make sure to do this, deal with the fiscal cliff in a balanced way, which included raising the top tax rates for those making more than $250,000 a year. and so i hope that the republicans remember what the american people have said or else they're not going to be in a good political position for a very long time. >> speaking of the republicans, amy, house speaker john boehner, he had his plan b which was going to allow for 1990 tax levels for millionaires. keeping tax breaks for others. but he couldn't get it passed. never even went to a vote. what do you think his future looks like? is he done as house speaker? >> well, goodness, i won't make predictions about the republican caucus and the house and their ideas who've they want to lead them. but i think also the president needs to understand who won elections on the other side of the aisle.

this november, republicans were returned to the house to be in charge, to keep a break on some of this runaway spending that we've been seeing that's been going on with trillions in deficit. and i think that the president has puts himself in a very difficult position, that he's been so intractable on being able to negotiate with republicans. and that put john boehner in such a tough position. we saw this week the president in his press conference taunting republicans, even dana millbank of the "washington post" noted this in his column. obviously no supporter of house republicans. and he noticed that the president of the united states wasn't working necessarily in good faith with republicans on the other side of the aisle. going over the fiscal cliff is bad for everybody. i hope that both, all of our leaders on both sides of the aisle will try to embrace a solution before those tax rates go up for all americans. >> yeah. let me talk to you both about benghazi. an independent review found failures in leadership and management at the state department in terms of the attacks on benghazi and how it

was handled and everything that followed as a result. do you think this will tarnish hillary clinton's reputation at all as she leaves the administration, maria? >> i don't think that it will, randi. you know, the secretary herself is the first one to say that the buck stops with her. she has taken full responsibility for this. the state department with her at the head of it has accepted all 29 recommendations that came out of this report. she understands that there have been failures and that things need to change. and she has been the first to say that. she is going to testify next month about this. she is never one to either go back on her responsibility or to shy away if responsibility and make sure that from here on in those recommendations are accepted and that we do everything that we can to make sure that this does not happen again. so i don't think this will tarnish her. and we'll see what happens next month when she does testify. i'll think she will -- i think

she will be able to answer all of the tough questions that will be put to her. >> amy, let me ask you and maria, i'll ask you on this, as well, after amy. but what do you think of the nra's plan? we've been talking about this this morning and yesterday, as well. the nra's plan to put armed guards in schools to try and prevent more mass shootings like we just saw in newtown, connecticut, amy. >> in a word, i think it's nutty. i don't think that we want our public schools bristling with armed guards. that that is not a solution. i'm a defender of the second amendment. i'm a defender of america's -- americans' right to bear arms. but i don't think that that "solution" makes sense economically. i don't think that it makes sense even culturally. however, i do understand the nra's position that i'm not sure that banning all of these assault weapons is the -- media's calling them, is going to solve the problem of deranged young men, and face it they tend to be young men, who for whatever reasons have this idea that they want to join this

terrible, terrible club of mass murderers. i think that we need to have a much more thoughtful, considered discussion about how we try to solve the problem. >> maria, the nra's main argument seems to be we protect our airports, we protect other places by arming guards, we protect the president, his secret service. so why not protect our children in schools. if people know they're not protected, then they might go after them as they have. so what do you think about armed guards in schools? >> i actually don't think the nra went far enough. you know, i think a lot of republicans have said let's arm our teachers. let aep's am our 6-year-olds. let's -- arm our 6-year-old. let's give them assault weapons. i'll send my daughter after christmas break to school with a flack jacket and grenades. that's essentially what the snar saying. what they said about the only way to stop a bad man with a gun is to have a good person with a gun. come on, how about let's not let the bad people get access to

assault weapons. weapons that are only found on the battlefield. give me a break. this does -- this is the time for considered discussion, for a civil debate. but what the nra has been proposing and has been talking about will not lead to that. >> all right. certainly a lot of fire behind this debate. maria core dona, amy holmes, thank you very much. nice to see you both. >> thank you. >> happy holidays. >> same to you, as well. see you next year. >> absolutely. >> all right. thank you. >> all right. a young author raising money to help other kids who are just like him. how a rare genetic disease inspired this little boy to give back.

i want to share a story now about a young author with a rare genetic disease. he's raising money to help other kids who are just like him. here's dr. sanjay gupta with today's "human factor." >> reporter: 9-year-old evan moss is a boy who seemingly only cares about one simple thing. >> all of these, all filled with pokemon cards. >> reporter: unfortunately, his life isn't so simple. >> when evan was just a couple weeks old, he started having these little shaky movements. it was one arm that would just twitch a little bit. and it would last a few seconds. >> reporter: robert and lisa took their son to dozens of doctors' appointments. evan was eventually diagnosed with tuberis sclerosis complex,

a rare genetic disease that causes nonmalignant tumors to grow inside the brain and on other vital organs. evan's tsc includes one of the hallmark symptoms -- potentially life threatening seizures that can happen at any moment. since evan's parents can't watch over him all the time, they began to look for an extra set of eyes, ears, and a nose. >> we were also finding out that not only did these dogs respond to seizures -- [ bark ] >> good dog. >> they had the capability to alert you, to tell you that the individual might have a seizure, might soon be having a seizure. >> reporter: as you might imagine, these types of highly trained service dogs, dogs that can sniff out chemical changes in the body leading up to a seizure, don't come cheap. [ bark ] >> a service dog generally costs from $22,000 to $25,000. they ask for each recipient family to fund-raise $13,000 of that to offset the cost.

and as part of the application, they asked for something from the child receiving the dog. he said, can i write a book? >> "my eesh d-- "my seizure dog" my dog tells me when i will have a seizure. we will be best friends. >> reporter: big sister aria suggested their parents self-publish the book on amazon where it quickly shot to the top of one of the site's best central lists. a book signing followed at a neighborhood coffee shop. the turnout was overwhelming. >> we did end up raising around $45,000. and helped about seven additional children complete their fundraising. >> come on. >> reporter: mindy rarely leaves evan's side during the day. at school, on the bus. in the back yard. and never leaves his side at night.

>> the seizure dog will sleep with me. if i have a seizure during my sleep, the seizure dog will tell my parents. >> reporter: mindy moss, family pet, parents' security blanket, and evan's best friend. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. >> what a beautiful story. and be sure to watch "sanjay gupta m.d." today at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon eastern time. and sunday, tomorrow, 7:30 a.m. eastern. beaten and bruised. a man with down syndrome recovering after a sheriff's deputy peppersprayed him and hit him with a baton. now authorities are trying to defend their actions. antonio martinez and his sister join us with his story. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards

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welcome back. 46 minutes past the hour now. a sheriff's deputy unloaded a can of pepper spray into the face of a man who has down syndrome. then that wasn't it, he hit him with a baton. what's worse, the man never committed a crime. jennifer jensen from our affiliate kgtv in san diego has more. >> reporter: the scratches on his face and bruises on his arms are fresh. his painful reminders of what happened tuesday in vista at the hands of a sheriff's deputy. >> got pepper sprayed. he was covering his eyes. the cop get saying, "get on the floor." >> reporter: melissa was working

nearby when she heard the commotion. >> he was laying down. and the officer had the baton and was going like that. he kicked him a couple of times hard. >> reporter: she ran to the bakery and got his older sisters and yelled at the deputy to stop. >> he has down syndrome. stop, it's wrong. he wouldn't stop. he kept going. >> reporter: clearly reliving what he experienced was overwhelming. his father, francisco, showed us the bruises where his son was hit. 10 news was there as the sheriff's captain visited the family to apologize. he admits to us the department was in the wrong. >> we made a mistake here. >> reporter: the captain says deputies were looking for a man in the area possibly involved in a domestic violence dispute when they came across antonio. >> as the gentleman walked by, he covered his head with his -- the hood of his sweatshirt, kind of trying to conceal his identity. >> reporter: an act which raised suspicion. when antonio wouldn't stop walking away, the deputy took matters into his own hands. >> he pepper sprayed him. when that wasn't effective, he hit him with the baton which put him on the ground. then a couple of more strikes to

get his hands free so they could handcuff him. when they got him in the car, they realized that he had down syndrome. >> reporter: then the deputy drove him to the hospital. why the use of force? >> when he tried to contact the guy, again, he didn't know who he was. he didn't know if he was involved in the domestic violence. >> reporter: clearly he wasn't. he was just walking to his family's business. the martinezes have already contacted an attorney. >> and joining us now from san diego is antonio martinez and his sister, jessica. good morning to both of you. antonio, let me ask you, are you feeling better, how are you feeling today? >> good. >> good? jessica, what is the plan from here? i mean, why speak out? has your family decided for sure to go ahead with the lawsuit? >> yes, we have. well, i mean, if they did it to him, they're going to be -- end up doing it to any guy or any girl that they see on the

street. and they say they look suspicious. that's what they say, that he looked suspicious. that's why they perceived to stop him -- proceeded to stop him. and he didn't do anything wrong. he was just walking from our house to the bakery. and he was just going to work. >> we did get a statement from the san diego county sheriff's department. and it says that the deputy used the pepper spray to prevent possible escape. then explained the use of force saying in part, "in an attempt to take the subject into custody, the deputy transitioned to his baton. an additional deputy arrived, and the struggle continued. the subject was eventually taken into custody, and it was learned that he suffers from a developmental disability. the sheriff's department is investigating this incident." but it was -- the case was dropped, though, right? there were no charges. >> to say he had a citation. when we picked him up from the sheriff's station. and then on wednesday they came

and apologized. they said, oh, we revoked the ticket that was given to antonio. and they offered us a turkey for -- to apologize. we were like, a turkey's not going to bring peace to our family and comfort that antonio had -- before this happened to him. >> did they come to your house with the turkey, or was it a turkey they would get for you? >> no, they came to our bakery and said, we would like to speak to you and your family about the incident of antonio martinez. and we said, okay, you can come. they said, we are going to -- we revoked the ticket that was given, and they said, and they asked us, oh, by the way, what are you going to do for christmas? and we were like, we'll stay home and try to have a good time. that's when they offered the turkey with all the stuffing and -- >> what about the deputy involved? the department, sheriff's department wouldn't say if the deputy was reprimanded. do you know? and how does this make you feel

if he wasn't? >> we are not sure what has happened to him. when the chief came to talk -- to speak to us, he said he was on a four-day vacation. i'm not sure. and if he doesn't, we'll -- we want him out of our city. we don't want him there. i mean, he's -- he did a lot of damage on my brother. my brother doesn't want to walk home from our bakery. and it's like a five-minute walk. and he doesn't want to walk nowhere. he wants us to go with him. and -- and he, it was funny because we went to the store, i think it was on thursday. and he somehow gloves. and he's like, oh, can i get those? he's afraid to put his hands in his sweater when it's cold. now he wants to use gloves because he doesn't want to -- he's not -- doesn't feel safe anymore. >> right. what about the community? i mean, how has the community

reacted, especially since so many witnessed this? >> well, they're being so supportive. they called us from colorado, like around the united states. they've been calling us, that we should fight till the end and get justice for my brother. a lot of witnesses say if you need me, you just call me. and they've been calling us, that they saw when -- they took my brother to the hospital and he was still in handcuffs even though knowing that he had down syndrome. >> well, jessica martinez and your brother antonio, thank you both very much for coming on and sharing your story. antonio, we wish you well and hope you heal very soon. thank you. >> thank you. shifting gears now. in the never-ending world of washington gridlock, turn out it's not just tax hikes and spending cuts on the line. the price of milk could soar if congress can't make a deal a bill affecting the nation's dairy farmers. gine revs ]

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got milk? it may be a lot more expensive to answer yes to that question in the new year if a new agriculture bill isn't passed by congress. support for dairy farmers will revert to a statute that dates back to 1949. essentially the government would be forced to buy milk at double the average cost. that could push the price for a gallon of milk to over $7. today is the second and final round of voting on a referendum for egypt's new draft constitution. it comes one day after clashes in alexandria between supporters and opponents of president mohamed morsi. the constitution which passed a first phase of voting last week

has sparked concerns over the power it creates for morsi. "gangnam style" by the south korean rapper is the first video in the history of the internet to surpass one billion views. if you haven't seen it yet, here is a look at what you've been missing. [ "gangnam style" ] ♪ >> is there anyone really who hasn't seen that? is there anyone left? it's amazing. boy. i love that music. we have much more ahead in the next hour of "cnn saturday morning" which starts after a short break. keep it here. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though.

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one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+. from the cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning." it is december 22, good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. the president and lawmakers hightail it out of washington, leaving the contentious debate over high stakes tax hikes and spending cuts until after christmas. the stalemate isn't sitting well with many americans. a massive winter storm unleashing plenty of misery for holiday travelers. we'll tell you where to expect the biggest delays. and neighbors in newtown, connecticut, are taking on the

big guns, yes, the nra, in hopes of preventing another school shooting. we'll hear from the man spearheading the grassroots movement. worried, uncertain, and anxious. those words typically didn't describe the holidays, but they do this year for millions who could see steep cuts in their paychecks ten days from now. lawmakers and the president still have yet to reach a consensus on the rapidly approaching fiscal cliff, shelving it until after christmas. cnn's emily schmidt now from washington. emily, so is the president optimistic a last-minute deal can be reached? he came out late yit yesterday with another suggestion. >> reporter: that's right. they were his parting words before he left washington for hawaii. he put out a scaled back plan. he said it was an achievable goal. this morning, we heard from house speaker john boehner who was talking about can you avert the fiscal cliff. in his radio address he says hope springs eternal. yet, you listened yesterday, and it's clear the divide between

them is very large still, indeed. >> in the next few days, i've asked leaders of congress to work toward a package that prevents a tax hike on middle-class americans, protects unemployment insurance for two million americans, and lays the groundwork for further work on both growth and deficit reduction. that's an achievable goal. that can get done in ten days. >> the president's solution of raising tax rates would still be red ink for as far as the eye can see, and it would hurt jobs at a time when far too many of our citizens are struggling to find them. >> reporter: what is clear now is that none of the key negotiators who are working on this remain in washington. now indication that they will be in washington until after christmas. randi? >> if there is no deal, emily, will workers see extra taxes coming out of their paychecks starting january 1? >> reporter: technically potentially not starting january 1. a lot of the people's paychecks that would be the next pay cycle

would be cut next week. frankly, payroll processors don't know how much they should take out of your paycheck because congress hasn't decided yet. we have to wait to see what happens. eventually, that ripple effect would kick in. so americans would be looking at smaller paycheck at some point in january. the question is how much. >> plan b, the house speaker john boehner's plan. they wanted to have a vote but was dealt an embarrassing blow when his own party refused to vote on his proposal. where do republicans go from here? >> reporter: this shows how much republicans are working against having any kind of an increased tax hike no matter what the amount is. originally we were talking about the wealthiest 2% of americans. that's a $250,000 family household income level. plan b would have involved people making $1 million a year, and they could not get enough republican support for the plan to actually take it to a vote. would that translate to a final plan, a do or die plan that without it would take americans

over the fiscal cliff? that's something we don't yet know. certainly we know that each of these parties' caucuses will be trying to figure out that question as the clock gets closer to december 31. >> thank you very much. holiday travelers should use some extra caution today with a blizzard warning in effect in west virginia and maryland. take a look here. this was the scene in cleveland, ohio, as the storm raced through yesterday. more than 90 million people on the move this holiday, a major winter storm has been making highways treacherous across the midwest. now the day before, the blizzard left nine inches of snow in places like omaha, nebraska, and more than a foot in some areas farther north. victor blackwell is braving the cold this morning at a toll booth near cleveland. victor, it was pretty dicey there yesterday. how are things looking at that toll booth now, how do the

highways look? >> reporter: oh, comfy cozy, nice and warm here with a windchill of 19 degrees. things are fine at the toll booth. roads are looking great in the midwest, the great lakes states, we're actually getting good news about the roads. not too many problems. you know, 93 million or more people will travel more than 50 miles this holiday season. most of those people, 90%, will be driving. that's good news. but there are starting to be problems at the airports. we've got some of the airport problems to put up on the screen for you starting with a ground stop in virginia just outside of d.c. at dulles national airport. delays of about 45 minutes or more at jfk and newark. that's on the east coast because that storm that swept through the midwest and is on the east coast is causing problems there. we'll jump to the west coast and the airport, there are ground delays there, as well. that's going to possibly ripple

through the other airports as the planes that are on the ground there cannot get to destinations on time. it will create delays at airports that are supposed to take passengers to their destination. we'll starting to see problems in midwest wednesday, thursday, and friday now on the east coast. >> i hope you get to 20, i know you're at 19. 20 will fall balmy. >> reporter: nice and generous. thank you. >> listen, stay warm. thank you very much. >> reporter: thanks. let's check in with alexandra steele in the cnn weather center. you said it's bad in parts. where is the brunt of this storm today, and how much snow can some of these areas expect? >> the brunt of the big blizzard that moved through that he was talking about is now in the northeast in the form of lake effect or lake enhanced snow for the most part. you know, victor showed the

airport delays and the predominance of them. other than ft. lauderdale, it's due to winds, be it the northeast and newark or laguardia, and of course the weather in san francisco. and ft. lauderdale, the destination to ft. lauderdale is because they are doing runway construction at the airport. that's really slowing things down. so here's a leaky at the wind gusts. it's the winds, look, 35 mile-per-hour gusts in washington. so the winds are still a scenario here. certainly not as intense as they were yesterday. but still, 20, 30, 35, maybe 40 mile-per-hour gust slowing things down. and also this lake-effect snow. so with that said, as we look toward a white christmas, who will see it? you can see a lot of the country, certainly the northern tier. remember in western new york, it was a brown ground last christmas. so certainly all the snow we've seen in the great lakes will certainly allow for a white christmas and great skiing. all the ski resorts in vermont and new hampshire down to snowshoe, west virginia, picking up a foot and a half to see two feet to the west. upper midwest.

so a white christmas meteorologically means that there's an inch of snow on the ground on christmas morning. it doesn't have to be falling. there just has to be an inch of snow on the ground. we're looking at christmas and also the days up to it and a little after it if you're traveling. a few interesting things happening. the west san francisco area has been ensconced in rain and clouds and travel trbs. tomorrow they get into it again. by monday, the west coast clears out, but here's what we're watching for the tuesday to thursday time period. so christmas and then traveling after that. watch what happens here in the southeast. an area of low pressure develops on tuesday. so it may not be a white christmas in the southeast, in places like new orleans, birmingham, little rack or atlanta. maybe a wet one. north of that into the tennessee valley, we could have a little bit of snow. and then from tuesday to thursday, this area of low pressure may move up the appalachians and impact the area with snow. watching computer gients on. that that's tuesday, big picture

today. the balance of the country is dry and cold and windy. it's the west coast and the northeast that we're seeing that snow, again, that lake-effect snow around the great lakes today. that's where the heaviest snow will be. >> all right. thank you very much. >> sure. now let's turn to syria. a bombing killed five people today. the car bomb exploded in a neighborhood in damascus. no one has claimed responsibility, but syrian state tv crossed a banner calling the bombing a "terrorist explosion." so what happens if the country goes over that fiscal cliff we've all heard so much about? speaker john boehner's face, well, that says it all. the real consequences coming up. ! make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. test drive! but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering.

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[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast. [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. we are heading toward the fiscal cliff, and if the white house and republicans can't reach a deal, taxes will rise, and the economy will be in real jeopardy. earlier i talked with trish regan, anchor with bloomberg tv. she confirmed the unwanted prospects. >> reporter: taxes on every american will go up. we will also see the payroll tax cut end.

so that's another thing that we'll wind up paying. don't forget, there's two million people now that are getting an extension on unemployment benefits. that will end, as well. a little less money in everybody's pockets. >> yeah. and stock markets, certainly we were watching the market yesterday. they've taken a dive. why is that? what is the connection, and do you see this continuing? >> reporter: the consumer basically accounts for about 2/3 of this overall economy. so consumer spending is critical to having a healthy economy. so if the consumer is being taxed more, doesn't have as much money to spend, the expectation is the consumer will pull back. you've also got something else going on, that's there's a lot of entertainment in the see suite. ceos say -- the c suite. ceos saying i'm not hiring now. that's having an effect. finally, investors don't like the idea that washington can't quite get it together.

they want to see lawmakers be able to come up with the solution. and the idea that it's boiled down to so much political bickering really bothers them. don't forget, we saw our debt downgraded for the first time ever because washington couldn't pull it together. and the thought is if we blow through this fiscal cliff, we could see another debt downgrade, as well. >> is there any danger, do you think, in coming up with a short-term deal which sounds like the direction that they might be heading in after listening to the president late yesterday evening. and then maybe trying to figure out the rest down the road. is there any risk in doing that? >> reporter: no, i don't think there's necessarily a lot of risk there. i think investors would like to see something happen. they would like to see washington be able to put some band-aid together just to get us over the hump. and i think the expectation is hopefully washington will do that. the market is anticipating that something will come forward, will get us through this tough spot.

and that in january, in february we'll come up with some kind of grand bargain if you would that will address these longer term issues like entitlements, et cetera, that have to be dealt with. >> yeah. could anything good come out of actually going over the cliff? >> reporter: well, you would see cut in spending. the reality is we're running deficits upwards of $1 trillion which we can't afford. we've got $16 trillion worth of debt. if we go through this cliff, it will force our country to have to cut spending. on the flip side, it means higher taxes out of everyone's pocket at a time when the economy is still on fragile ground, showing signs of recovery. we've got good ones this week. but still on fragile ground, and people are worried that if consumers have less money to spend, it's going to really take its toll on this u.s. economy. >> i know you're reading the tea leaves, so what are they telling you? will we have a deal in time? >> reporter: it's interesting. about 66% of investors polled by

ubs, the swiss bank, say that they believe a deal will happen. i can tell you the people that i talk to on my show every day, they're placing bets one way or the other. the majority think there's a real good chance that we blow right through this. that we actually go right through it. and they're hedging their bets in the investment community because they're not confident that the politicians will get it done, and it may take some huge market event to really force their hand. don't forget when we got t.a.r.p. through in 2008, the bailout package for the financial industry, it didn't happen until the market tanked 800 points. so they said in absence of a major market event like that, it might be hard to see these politicians really pick up the political will enough to really convince their constituents they needed to vote for something like this. >> well, here's something that will help the economy. when you think of technological innovation, you probably think

of silicon valley. but google is really changing that, launching a super high-speed internet connection in a neighborhood in kansas city. tom foreman has the story on the american journey. >> reporter: in the bustling heart of kansas city, the pioneer spirit is burning brightly. entrepreneurs trading ideas, exploring concepts, and much of it revolves around a handful of houses on a few beaten up blocks where some small internet startups are drawing national attention. >> i can go local. >> reporter: mike farmer is the ceo of leap 2, a company with a highly advanced mobile search app. >> people have stopped by the office every day from boston, san francisco, or denver. it's just fascinating. >> reporter: that must feel pretty good. >> yeah, it does. >> reporter: one big reason the companies are clustering here is that google chose this neighborhood to launch its much anticipated super high-speed internet connection. 100 times faster than most

internet links. google fiber allows massive video, data, and graphic files to move with astonishing speed, permitting development of whole new applications. under the plan, within the next two years, large sections of kansas city on both the kansas and missouri sides will be wired. >> this is salt lake what you wanted. >> exactly -- this is exactly what you guys wanted. >> exactly. we want to take advantage of the faster speeds that google fire will bring and develop. the sky's the limit. >> reporter: how high is that? even the tech wizards aren't sure. >> you know, we've been asked that question a few times. the truthful answer is we don't know yet. we have a new technology that no one else has in the nation, and it can take our business to a new height that we didn't even dream of. >> reporter: the practical effects are easier to predict. better property values, more reasons for investment for top talent to come and stay. how much impact can all of this have on your city? >> i think at the end of the day

if you ask any mayor growing that small business, finding that entrepreneur, willing to take a risk in your community is going to grow jobs and ultimately the economy. >> reporter: for now, dreams are growing wild out on the silicon prairie. tom foreman, cnn, kansas city, kansas. as newtown, connecticut, mourns the 26 innocent lives cruelly snatched away in last week's shooting, one group is trying to make sure such a deadly massacre never happens anywhere again. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable,

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[ bell ] yesterday much of the country paused to remember the newtown shooting victims. church bells rang out exactly one week after the tragedy began. flags remained at half staff.

even many web sites went dark. and people all over the country observed a moment of silence for the 20 children and six teachers and administrators. today there is a walk for peace in newtown. and three more children will be laid to rest. it's heartbreaking every time we see those innocent faces. anna grace marquez greene who loved to counted and sing. josephine grace gaye who had just celebrated her 7th birthday. and emily alice parker, had was bright, creative, and loving. meanwhile, there has been a serious backlash on line to the nra's statement on the shooting. listen to this powerful video from an ireporter who is also a retired police officer. >> this is my nra club card. i want to show you my tribute and how outraged i am at the

loss of life in newtown, connecticut. this is what i'm going to do with this card. that's it. >> congresswoman gabrielle giffords' husband mark kelly posted on his facebook page, "gabby and i are extremely disappointed by the nra's defiant and delayed response. the nra could have chosen to be a voice for the vast majority of its members who want common sense, reasonable safeguards on deadly firearms. instead, it chose to defend extreme, pro-gun positions that aren't even popular among the law-abiding gun owners it represents." and connecticut house representative and senator-elect chris murphy tweeted this -- "walking out of another funeral and was handed the nra transcript. the most revolting, tone-deaf statement i've ever seen." a group of neighbors, meanwhile, in newtown are coming together after last week's massacre to take on washington.

that means taking on the nra. they call themselves newtown united. their mission, to reduce gun violence and prevent other communities from ever having to live their nightmare. bill toomey helped put together that group. and earlier, i spoke with him today and his daughter, sierra. i asked them if they have made any progress in their talks with politicians on the issue of gun control. >> we had a series of meetings, actually, to try and begin a conversation in the community around what happened and how we can take this terrible tragedy and turn it into something positive. so what we heard from the senators as well as some of our congressional -- the rest of our congressional delegation was that the moment in time is now. that the tide is turning in this country as it relates to gun violence and what we can do about it. and we want to try and bring the community together as quickly as possible to try and lend our

voice to the national voice so that we can really make something meaningful happen out of this terrible event. >> and the name of your group is newtown united. but you say that that group isn't just a representation of your community. what do you mean by that? >> well, it started with a group of neighbors and friends who were just, you know, trying to channel their emotions and make sense of what happened here. and start to put some ideas together on what we might be able to do to, again, turn this into something positive. and what we've heard, not just from folks in community but from folks all over the world is that people were deeply touched by what happened here. and they do not want these events to go -- to have happened in vain. we should try and lend our voice to the national debate on this issue around gun violence, it's not just about gun control.

there's a lot of other issues associated with it. and we want to bring people together in the community as well as across the nation to really make a difference and make sure that we do whatever's necessary to protect our children. >> people are debating whether teachers should have a gun in the classroom. sierra, how do you feel about that? >> i think that the teachers should focus on teaching instead of carrying a gun because if they're trying to focus on keeping us safe at the same time as teaching, then it's kind of hard for them to do both at the same time. but they could do other things like keep the doors locked at times and just try to -- we can come up with other ways and stuff. >> bill, how do you feel about teachers being armed? >> i think our teachers have a challenging enough job just

being educators and being teachers in our community, and i think the issue of gun violence is -- is a challenging one. and i think there are many solutions to the problem. we just need to be able to bring folks together in a way that we can have sensible conversations about these issues and figure out the best course of action moving forward. >> that was bill and sierra toomey earlier this morning. and if you want to find out how to help connecticut shooting victims, if to cnn.com/impact. tax hikes, irs tax refund delays, so much remains on the line without a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. how close is washington to bridging the divide? this holiday, share everything. share "not even close." share "you owe me..."

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washington essentially has shut down for the holidays with no deal in place to avoid the rapped lie approaching fiscal cliff. it's possible an agreement can be reached before the year is out, but is it probable? cnn takes a look at where it all stands. >> good afternoon, everybody. >> reporter: after speaking with party leaders friday afternoon,

president obama called on congress to quickly come up with a solution to avert some end-of-year tax hikes associated with the fiscal cliff. >> in the next few days, i've asked leaders of congress to work toward a package that prevents a tax hike on middle-class americans, protects unemployment insurance for two million americans, and lays the groundwork for further work on both growth and deficit reduction. >> reporter: remarks came after house speaker john boehner failed to muster enough of his party support to bring his plan b to the floor. his proposal would have effectively raised taxes only on those americans making more than $1 million a year. >> we had a number of our members who just really didn't want to be perceived as having raised taxes. >> reporter: the two sides each left the capitol for the christmas holidays blaming each other for inaction. democrats said thursday's failure in the house pointed to a need for more compromise by the gop. >> house republicans have gotten the message loud and clear.

a comprehensive solution to the looming fiscal cliff will need to be a bipartisan solution. >> reporter: senate republican leader mitch mcconnell said the next move needs to come from the president. >> he's the only one who can do it. this isn't john boehner's problem to solve. >> reporter: without a deal, steep tax hikes and massive government spending cuts are set to trigger after january 1. cnn, washington. if there is a new ban on assault weapons, could that mean current gun owners would have to give their guns up? the answer may surprise you. th. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ sighs ] thanks! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth and save $1 visit alka-seltzer on facebook.

many americans from the president on down are sick about

what happened in newtown, connecticut, and want tougher gun laws. the second amendment can make that pretty tricky. i spoke with cnn legal contributor paul callan for his take on how the supreme court currently interprets the right to bear arms. >> the supreme court has held that the second amendment permits people to keep weapons in their house for self-protection. it doesn't say anything about high-capacity ammunition magazines. it doesn't say anything about what kinds of guns we're allowed to keep. certainly well reasoned restrictions are perfectly legal under the second amendment. >> and if tougher gun laws are passed by congress that outlaw the assault rifles and those large ammunition clips that, unfortunately, we've had to talk so much about, what would this mean for the gun owners who currently have them? >> this is an important question. i think when we talk about gun control, we ultimately -- really, it's a political question. you know, there are 450 million firearms in america at this

moment. there's a huge amount of weaponry out there. and some of those are these -- what we call assault weapons. gun enthusiasts say they're just sort of rifles that you can -- you can change the configuration of, and you only have to pull the trigger once and one bullet comes out. they're not machine guns or automatic weapons. those weapons that you can put a high-composite clip into have been involved in a lot of these mass killings. and certainly there's going to be a major battle about whether people who already have those guns can have the guns taken away from them. from a legal standpoint, yes, you could take them away. we take people's land away. that's called eminent domain. you pay them for when you take the property back. yes, it could be done. politically, could we try to do it? we never have in the past. i don't know if the political sell there to do it. >> let me ask but the cnn/orc poll that shows 52% of americans favor major restrictions on guns or making all guns illegal.

what influence do you think this might have on congress or the courts? any influence at all? >> no, i think it has a big influence. and i think through the years, you know, you hit a tipping point on issues where the public finally starts to say, hey, something's got to be done. you know, i think this shooting in connecticut is a tipping point. and if, you know, the obama administration acts quickly, there may be a chance to put some new regulations in place. but unfortunately, the public has had a short memory on these things. the other thing you have to remember is, you know, the nra says more than 50% of americans support gun ownership. and statistically, a lot more people than you think have guns in their homes. i've seen the statistic, more than 65% of people who identify as republicans have guns in their homes. more than 25% of democrats do. and so a lot of people have guns this their homes. it's -- they believe in it. so it's always difficult to pass

regulations that restrict gun ownership. >> yeah. this isn't even the first time that a u.s. president has gone after gun laws and assault rifles and those large ammo clips. what do you think is the difference this time around, and will whatever that is make a difference? >> i think the difference here is that children were involved. and i think that this is something, you know, i don't care where you live, who you are, whether you're a gun enthusiast or not, you look at this and say, we've got to find a way to prevent this from happening. >> cnn legal contributor paul callan, thank you very much. holidays got you stressed out? it's a bigger problem than you might think. it can damage your health. coming up, an expert will show you ways to relieve all that holiday stress.

stress is an unavoidable part of the holidays, whether it's last-minute christmas shopping, planning for a big party, or packing for a holiday trip. earlier, dietetic technician and fitness expert desiree nathan son told me stress tends to build up. >> the more often you're stressed, it leads to chronic stress which can have a terrible effect on your body. >> your health, it's a serious issue? >> yes, you can get elevated blood pressure. it can lead to disease, diabetes, there's so many problems that stress can lead to. depression, anxiety. >> yeah. not good. that -- >> no. >> so we all get stressed out, though we handle it differently.

are there some techniques? i mean, li like yoga and breathing exercises. >> i have many techniques. first, stay hydrated. you want to keep your body functioning normally throughout the process. you want to eat well. you want to exercise regularly. if you can't focus on those things, you want to try to stay away from sweets because sweets, they'll make you feel good temporarily, but then in the long term, it will just make the problem worse. same with alcohol. >> what's so important about yoga, for example? the breathing is really good, even if you're not doing yoga. taking in deep breaths can respect relieve stress. >> yoga and meditation are wonderful. a lot of people turn to prayer or meditation. it's not necessarily a miracle. it's focusing inward and calming your mind. there are a few yoga poses you can do that are restorative and relaxing. >> let's see. >> first is child's pose. i think a lot of people know child's pose. >> one of my favorites. >> yes. get on the floor on your knees and just lean forward to where

your chest is touching your thighs. if you're not as flexible doing this, then you can place a pillow or blanket between your butt and your heels so that will help support you. you can also do forward bends. i love doing forward bends. even if you're not that flexible to where you can't touch your toes, you can just kind of come here and relax because, again, it's calming and focusing inward. >> i could use some of that now. i wish i wasn't wearing a dress. i'd get on the ground with you. >> absolutely. >> what else? >> legs up the wall is a very good restorative pose. >> yeah. >> we'll pretend that i have a wall here. you'll lay on your back, and then you just want to try to put your legs. i've got a mic pack, but -- >> you lean against the wall. >> yes, and relax. your want your tailbone up against the wall so that everything's settling down. >> that reverses gravity for a bit. >> yes. and you can breathe for a few minutes. really nice. >> some people also in terms of how they handle stress, you

mentioned blood sugar, some people eat and some people don't eat. >> yes. >> how much does blood sugar play a role in if the stress continues or not? >> when you're stressed, it increases stress hormones which is cortisol. and cortisol in turn has an effect on blood sugar. so it's really going to screw with your blood sugar, and you really want to make sure that you are eating regularly so that you keep your blood sugars level. >> because it's the holidays, doing good, that helps to reduce stress? >> yes, absolutely. even if you just smile at a stranger. and if that's kind of awkward for you, just perhaps -- doing something nice and the act of smiling alone and laughing like you just did can relieve anxiety and tension. >> some great tips there from our good friend desiree. one of boston's finest is being credited with a daring rescue, and it was all caught on video. the incredible story just ahead. and this -- when traveling to other cities and countries, the best way to get real taste of the place is through local food.

cnn ireport has teamed up with "travel and leash" to create a global list of 100 places to oat like a local. here's martin vsavidge with a preview. >> reporter: i grew up in cleveland. trust me, if you're looking to eat where the clevelander eat, it doesn't get any more clevelander than here. for more than half a century, sterley's country houses has been a landmark in the community. ♪ >> we always have live entertainment here thursday, friday, and saturdays. >> reporter: three words -- family, fun, food. so signature dishes? >> i would say the wiener schnitzel. >> reporter: the classic described on the menu as buttery veal hand pounded with bread crumbs and lightly fried to golden perfection. mm. in the kitchen, you see how the magic is made. what have we got coming out of the back? >> she's got the fried schity n

inle -- fried schnitzel for the dinner. pounded, golden brown, breaded and deep fried. like i said, the kitchen, a lot of love in those to get them done right. >> there's the wiener schnitzel. >> i got the schnitzel and the slovenian potatoes highly recommended, and the stuffed cabbage. awesome. >> reporter: you don't have to be old or even from the old country to enjoy this place. >> i am celebrating my birthday. i got my friends together, to do something different. and having some fun. ♪ >> reporter: the nice thing about this is after you've had a good meal, probably got the strudel, you go out and burn it off. >> they've been coming here since day one. >> reporter: get the dessert and get dancing. i hope you enjoyed it. if you're ever in cleveland, you know what they say -- stop on by. in the meantime, i'm going to go

work off some of the food. mary? martin vsavidge, cnn, cleveland. >> and ireporters, here's your chance to respect create a food lover's map of the world g. to ireport.com/100 places. and all you have to do is send a photo of your favorite restaurant and the dish. tell us why it's special, how you discovered this place. the final list of 100 places to oat like a local will be revealed in march. some ireporters will be on that list. be sure to stay tuned and see if you are one of them. ♪ [ male announcer ] this december, remember what starts with adding a friend, ♪

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a boston police officer is being hailed a hero after a daring and frigid water rescue. the harrowing ordeal was caught on video. amanda grace from cnn affiliate whdh has the story. >> reporter: cell phone video captures boston police officer edward norton taking the plunge. he jumped into the frigid fort point channel in a downpour to rescue a woman. >> she was in that water calling for help and i can swim. >> he didn't hesitate, ran down the steps, took off his belt and jumped in the water and swam over to get her. >> reporter: officer norton says the woman was drowning and he didn't think twice about diving in pool. >> one of the other officers had been given the life preserver from someone else. i think it came from the tea

party museum so, that helped a lot. i was able to hold onto her with -- hold onto that while she was holding on to the life preserver while holding myself up with the raft that was out there. >> the life preserver around her and he swam to this floating device right here and just held on until the fire department came and then the divers jumped in the water after them. >> reporter: bystanders watched as a boat picked both of them up. >> i'll tell you what, that cop was a hero today. he didn't even think twice about it. >> reporter: but officer norton says it was all in a day's work. >> that's our job to show up when people call for help, so if we don't help, then no one's going to. >> definitely a hero. amanda grace, our thanks to you. cnn "newsroom" starts at the top of the hour. miguel marquez is in today for fredricka. no pressure, but can i share with the audience -- >> please do. >> this is the first time that miguel's going to be anchoring for cnn. >> oh, dear.

>> you haven't been here that long. >> since february. >> second round. >> back since february, first time anchoring so i'm very excited. >> pressure is on. >> we have a great show today. >> i'm sure. >> we have, you know, badges. >> i have one. >> a badge, an i.d. card it has a microchip in it. does that indicate the sign of the beast? a texas team says it does. she's taking her school to court. i was out in utah the other day doing a story on bullet-resistant backpacks for children given the tragedy in newtown. pretty interesting story there, how those are selling for parents concerned. >> that's interesting. >> and on a lot lighter note, the hot movies for this christmas season. >> you don't have a chance to see movies. >> i watch them on planes. always a few years old. >> have you seen this? people look at me like i'm crazy because they're three years ago.

>> i'm behind on basically everything. >> we will be watching. we'll check back with you in a few minutes, miguel. a high-tech treasure hunting game along the trails in washington ends with a rescue of something much more valuable. that story coming your way next. " and i'm thinking, "shouldn't you have more energy than me? you're, like, eight!" [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. simple. effective. advantage: mom. let's fight fat with alli. have a healthier holiday at letsfightholidayfat.com. welcome to chevy's year-end event. so, the 5.3-liter v8 silverado can tow up to 9,600 pounds? 315 horsepower. what's that in reindeer-power? [ laughs ] [ pencil scratches ] [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more. get the best offer of the year --

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containers hidden by other people. players never know what they're going to find. that couldn't be more true for one washington enthusiast. king tv has the story. >> reporter: you never know what you'll come across when hiking the trails of western washington. >> check it from time to time to get a bearing. >> reporter: that's what tom loves the most. he's an avid geocacher, always on the hunt for hidden treasures. >> it's a lot of fun. it's like the biggest easter egg hunt in the world. >> reporter: typically they're looking for little prizes like this. typically, it's just cheap trinkets but this time tom was on the trail of something much more valuable. >> good girl. >> reporter: brenda johnston was recently lost on little mountain. >> 911, what is your emergency? >> i'm so lost now. oh, my god. >> okay. okay. >> she strayed onto an unfamiliar trail and got disoriented when the sun went down. >> i knew that i could get out but i kept trying and i kept feeling like i